1. Skip to navigation
  2. Skip to content
  3. Skip to sidebar

Topics:

To tutor, or not to?

When kids struggle at school, a little tutoring is often the first line of defence. But is it always the best?

By
//
Originally published in Today's Parent December 2008

Joshua just wasn’t learning. The 12-year-old was getting help with his reading at Oxford Learning Halifax, a tutoring agency, a few afternoons a week. But he still wasn’t progressing at school. He seemed lethargic and uninterested in his work. Then he went for a routine checkup and the doctor ordered tests which revealed that he had type 1 diabetes. As soon as he got treatment, Joshua suddenly started making leaps both in his tutoring sessions and at school.

Parents often turn to tutoring as a first resort when their child’s grades start to slip. In fact, one-third of Canadian parents with children aged five to 24 have hired a tutor, according to a 2007 Canadian Council on Learning survey. Often, sitting down with someone one-on-one can help a child with school work. But if a child has an undiagnosed medical condition, learning disability, social or behavioural problem, or just not enough time for homework, tutoring may not help — at least, not on its own. “You need to find the problem. Without knowing what the issue is, you can’t fix it,” says Lorelei Burgess, centre director for Oxford Learning Halifax.

With that in mind, read on for some issues to consider before lining up a tutor for your child.

Subscribe to Today's Parent for just $14.95* That's only $1.25 an issue!

May We Also Suggest...

What do you think?